A Short Piece: Why Poetry Sucks

A list of adjective that describe poetry:
worthless
inane
unimaginative
pretentious


A poet is somebody who writes song lyrics but doesn't have enough talent to write accompanying music. As a result, poetry is a sub-par form of literature/art that expresses only part of whatever the writer was thinking about. Also, those who read poetry think that the people who write it are brilliant and talented. They end up creating a self-fulfilling prophecy by thinking that a poem is actually about something. So, they end up reading the poem and coming up with a twisted and obscure manner in which the poem can end up reflecting a comment on society or something of that nature. For instance, in high school one of my teachers was a poetry nut (a.k.a. can't read well) and forced us to read a poem about a red wheelbarrow. He then went on to explain that the wheelbarrow was a metaphor for society and that the poem was about communism. No, fucker. The poem is about a red wheelbarrow and poetry sucks and it doesn't represent anything. Read a fucking book instead of a paragraph full of stereotypical metaphors and actually learn something from literature.

Some common every-day items that are adequate substitutes for poetry:
picture
painting
dog shit

Album Review: Agitation Free - 2nd

I already posted a recommendation to check out this album, so I figured I would review it as well. The first song "First Communication" strikes me as somewhat of a precursor to Post-Rock, in the vein of Red Sparowes. This track is a very gentle instrumental rock song and features excellent guitar work. One thing that you notice immediately about this album is the crystal-clear production. It really serves to bring out the different moods of the songs, by expressing the tone of each instrument very accurately. The second song "Dialogue & Random" is a collection of electronic noises arranged in a very trippy manner. If electrons wrote music, this is what it would sound like. A crashing piano chord finishes Dialogue & Random and simultaneously introduces the third song, "Laila, Part One". An epic guitar solo laid over a sweet groove comprises this entire song. A transition at the end of the solo opens up into the fourth song, "Laila, Part Two". As did Part One, Part Two primarily consists of a guitar solo laid over a groove. Unlike the first Part, however, this one gets slightly repetitive as the bass line and basic groove are repeated for well over four minutes. This song could also be viewed as an influence on Post-Rock. Laila, Part Two gently fades out and in comes the fifth song on the album, "In The Silence Of The Morning Sunrise". This song is more free-form that the two Lailas, and consists of a nice instrumental track with some pretty bluesy guitar soloing. I have just come to realize that one of the main reasons for why I like this album so much is that the guitar playing is ridiculously good. It reminds me of a mix of Harvey Mann and David Gilmour, with a dash of Hendrix. Morning Sunrise fades out and in comes the sixth song on the album, "A Quiet Walk: A) Listening B) Two - Not Of The Same Kind". This song opens up with what sounds like a babbling brook, and then some atmospheric and trippy noises start fading in and out. It's pretty cool, sort of like a psychedelic version of the "silence" in a forest, which isn't really silent but rather filled with a bunch of small noises. About three minutes in, a guitar solo gently fades in and out, all the while accompanied by more trippy sounds. I can just imagine how crazy this will sound in headphones. At the five minute mark, a single vocalized note floats into the song, then disappears, leaving in its wake gentle strumming on acoustic guitar. As the strumming continues, distorted guitar and bongos trade playing verses for the remainder of the song. A Quiet Walk fades out and in fades two haunting, ethereal voices, one whispering and one singing. These voices recite lines from something written by Edgar Allen Poe while cosmic noises play in the background. This is the last song on the album, "Haunted Island". After the first set of vocals finish, the instruments begin playing, while a muted and wavy voice recites more lines. This will sound wicked trippy in headphones. The second set of vocals concludes and in comes an impeccably bluesy guitar solo. My attention is drawn once more to the unusually clear production of this album. You can hear every note from every instrument perfectly. As the song winds down, the solo fades out and a distorted riff is repeated several times, when suddenly all of the instruments stop, the drums play a few final notes and then a sound like an electronic wave seems to wash over the song, ending the album... What an incredible listening experience that was. I cannot recommend this highly enough.

Album Review: Kahvas Jute - Wide Open

This is a great album of what I would call stoner rock, circa 1971 Australia (a country known for its potent ganj). However, this is a recommended listen for anyone who enjoys catchy 70s rock music. The first song "Free" opens with a sweet guitar riff and soon the rest of the instruments join into an infectious, laid back groove that lasts throughout the track, complete with a pretty cool guitar solo. The lyrics provide some interesting food for thought. The highlight of the second song "Odyssey" is definitely the contrast between the verses and the chorus. The third song "Up There" is about blazing, with a killer opening riff, very cool lyrics, and a smokey atmosphere. The guitar solo comes soon after the track begins and fits the content of the song very well. Notable lyric: "the smoke is on the ceiling/my mind is on the floor". An interesting metaphor for being stoned. The fourth song "She's So Hard To Shake" is just an all-around awesome rock song about a girl who causes trouble, yet the singer can't get her out of his mind. This song is notable for its filthy bass playing. The fifth song "Vikings" is apparently about a young man who leaves an island with a head full of dreams (vague, but it doesn't matter because there are two sick guitar solos). The sixth song "Steps of Time" has some pretty abstract lyrics about the concept of time, as well as a great melody line with electric and acoustic guitar. The seventh song "Twenty Three" is a song about young love. I must say, this band wastes no time in getting to guitar solos, but the album is all the better for it. This track's solo is flashy and fast and damn GOOD, and is followed by a crazy drum solo. The eighth song "Ascend" has a great groove and is about a psychedelic trip. The ninth and final song "Parade of Fools" clocks in at 8 minutes, 58 seconds. The lyrics deal with growing up and becoming cynical, and the instrument playing is the best on the album.

Overall, everything on this album is awesome: the instrumentation, the lyrics, the vocals, etc. Very highly recommended.

Turkey, Tuxes, and California Pizza Kitchen

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving everybody! Last night my brother and I met our first cousins at California Pizza Kitchen. Before last night, I hadn't eaten there, so I was interested what it would be like. Pizza's a funny thing near me, considering there are about 5 pizzerias per square mile. Anyways, dinner was good and we had a lot of fun. During the meal. my cousin asked my brother and I to be in her wedding party, to which I am both honored and excited.

I figured for fun, I would write a little bit about how the food was. The pizza was pretty good. There had to be about thirty different choices of pizzas, all personal pizzas. I decided to go for the barbecue chicken pizza, which also had red onions on it. One thing that also was a pleasant surprise was that the pizzas had thin crust. Thin crust pizza is awesome, the absolute best being Eddie's pizza, which was talked about in Season 1 of Entourage. The chicken on the pie was good, as well as the bbq sauce. I would definitely recommend California Pizza Kitchen. Definitely a good restaurant chain. Now...I must go and eat all day. I hope everyone does the same. Too bad the football games are going to be garbage today. Take it easy.

-Steve

Album Recommendation

Agitation Free - 2nd. This album is very unique. The first song strikes me as somewhat of a precursor to modern electronica. For the most part, however, this record consists of wicked tripped-out rock music in various styles, with absolutely first-rate instrument playing all around. This is an extremely rewarding listen.

I was going to write a post about Sarah Palin...

But then I remembered that someone had already expertly summarized my thoughts about this Alaskan media whore, as well as the disgustingly apathetic consumer wage-slave paradise (U.S.A.) that she came way too close to being in charge of.

Click here for the post.

Is there a knuckle involved?

As I'm writing this I smell food cooking, leading to an eventual steak dinner. So, needless to say, I'm psyched. Anyways as Jon said, this is gonna be a place where we can write random stuff. I write reviews of cds, so I'll probably post those here, in addition to www.guitartechnica.com and on my facebook. Sports entries should get interesting considering our being fans of the biggest rivals in sports. As it turns out, we're home on Thanksgiving break from school, so I'm in NY, and Jon's kickin it in Mass. This past Sunday was awesome, because Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy was released, the Giants game was on, 24 returned with their 2 hour movie, and the Entourage finale was on. I decided I'd write a bit on 24 and entourage for my first post, so here it goes.

24:

Now, 24 is one of the best tv shows on. However, I thought that season 6 was somewhat weak, borrowing storylines from previous seasons. I was excited when they announced that there would be a 2 hour movie, bridging seasons 6 and 7, which will air in January. The movie takes place in both a fictional African country, and in the United States, where the first female President (a fictional Hillary?) was sworn in to office. Jack Bauer is in the African country, while a coup is about to take place, in which the militia is snatching young boys to fight as soldiers. I commend 24 for bringing this extremely relevent issue to light, one that a number of people may not be aware of.

Overall, the movie was great. The show hit it's stride in doing something uncharacteristic, and it really worked well. There was your usual level of intensity, good acting, and good writing. I can't wait for the next season to start in January.

Entourage:

This season of Entourage has been quite strange, with Vince struggling to get work after Medellin's flop. The finale was probably one of the best episodes of the season. For a while now I was hoping the crew would have some time in New York, and they finally did. The only disappointing aspect of the season was that they didn't go on Queens Boulevard. All's well that ends well, especially when one of the best directors offers you a role in his next movie, which sounded like a cool idea to me. Bring on season 6!

Uncle Mizzle sent me the newly released Opeth cover of Would? (Alice in Chains). It turned out exactly as I imagined it, and of course, it sounds killer.

I read today that the LA Angels offered CC Sabbathia an offer similar to Johan Santana's from last off-season, which puts the Yankees into an interesting spot. Do they pull out the big guns and up the ante? Or do they give up and go for Burnett, Lowe, Peavy, Sheets, or the bat of Mark Texiera? Being a Yankee fan as long as I have, I can only guess that we'll see a bigger offer in the next few days.

GO GIANTS

to read my review of Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy, visit www.guitartechnica.com

-Steve

In the beginning...

This blog is going to contain our collective thoughts & musings. There will be movie & album reviews, commentary on sports, politics, and society, as well as random collected works of any and possibly all genres. We hope you enjoy reading our random thoughts as they occur on this page.

Peace.